Re: Celiac checkup


"Billie" <love.my.kitties@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:6wR5g.71969$H71.16717@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Madison.

I've been holding your post here while I have been thinking of you and
your life. You see, I
can identify with you very, very much; I have been sick almost all of my
life.

Though born with some urinary tract abnormalities, it was rheumatic fever
with an accompanying
kidney infection (not cystitis) that sent me off with a bang when I was in
the third grade (8
y/o). There was lots of attention with that since I was not allowed for
my feet to touch the
floor while I was in bed for weeks, and my daddy had to carry me
everywhere. The doctor came to
my house to see me, and to give me shots. One set of grandparents gave me
my first Elgin watch;
my classmates sent me cards they had made in class. When I returned to
school there was an
outing/hike planned for that day, and my teacher was really worried about
my going. Would you
believe another girl in the class passed out while we were out in the
woods?

I continued to be skinny and sickly-looking. The next year they took my
tonsils out. Back then
(the 40's) they thought this helped keep the child free of toxins. Not
sure if I had been
having a lot of strep throat or not; probably not if I recall what
*doctoring* was like then.

The years passed, and I grew.... up, up, and up! I was pretty tall so
everything I ate went to
growing upwards, and not outwards, giving me a really skinny look. They
used to tease me that
my finger tips left imprints in the sand as I walked along the beach.
HeHe There is *no* beach
here in Arkansas, only the banks of the Mississippi River!! I had a
cousin who I spent a lot of
time with, and she had a problem with her weight, and she would make
cutting remarks about me,
but......... I surely would rather have been skinny than have to deal with
what she did. She
was not fat, but *rounder* than what she or her mom (my aunt) liked.

When I was in the ninth grade I had a reaction to penicillin which kept me
in the hospital for a
week. In addition to the hives, it made me swell inside. I was very
lucky that I got to the
hospital when I did, and they were able to give me emergency treatment to
reduce the swelling.
It was my first experience with Benadryl, an old stand-by today for living
in this allergy-laden
area. *s*

School had just gotten underway for the 10th grade when I had to have an
emergency appendectomy.
Oh, how well do I remember that morning when I got up, and was feeling bad
in addition to
running a low fever. My mom and I were surprised to find out the doctor
suspected appendicitis.
The doctor was going out of town, and wanted to know if we wanted for him
to do the surgery, or
to wait and see how things progressed, and another doctor in town to do
the honors. We wanted
*our* doctor to do it, so they took me straight to the hospital.
Surprise, surprise! When they
got in there they found a badly inflamed appendix that would have burst
had we waited!

After I got out of the hospital (a longer stay than nowadays post-op) I
had trouble using my
left leg. What they told me was that I had a *bruised* sciatic nerve from
post-op shots. There
was a doctor that did some kind of therapy that he had learned from his
father who was an
osteopath. Well, whatever it was, it worked, and he had me back using my
leg fully very soon.

Things went pretty well for me after all of that until Spring rolled
around. The best way I
know how to describe it was that I was just really puny, tired all the
time, low-grade
fever...... cannot remember the specifics other than that. The doctor put
me in the hospital,
and they ran all kinds of tests; they even brought a specialist down from
Memphis to see me.
They said what I had was like having a sore throat in my heart. It was
called bacterial
endocarditis. It caused me to miss the last two weeks of school,
including all my final exams.
I remember the first *outing* after this was the graduation service.

There is nothing special that I recall about those summer months following
this, but in August I
began to feel tired again, and started running a fever. My doctor sent me
to Oschner Foundation
Hospital in New Orleans to a pediatric cardiologist. Oh, my............ I
had the most horrible
experience I think of my whole lifetime! They did a bone marrow test,
using the breast bone to
extract the bone marrow. It was SO scary, and I experienced my first
anxiety attack afterwards.
Mom and I spent three weeks down there, which included my 16th birthday.
I was on the pediatric
floor, and there were kids there with all kinds of things wrong with them.
My friends gave me a
surprise birthday party after I got back home.

On our drive back home I overheard my parents talking (thought I was
asleep), and my dad was
complaining about the *cost* of the hospitalization, and *complaining*
that there was nothing
wrong with me (there was, just not the return of the heart problem). From
that day forward, I
felt SOOOOO bad for what I had put my dad through. Well, years later I
learned that he was
upset because he had allowed our insurance to lapse, and he was having to
pay for this out of
his pocket. It *really* was himself that he was angry with, but *I* was
the scapegoat. My dad
was an alcoholic with bad memories and injuries from WWII; he had a lot of
problem talking and
showing affection with his family. Some of this I knew then, but not all
of it, so I was filled
with guilt, guilt, guilt! Thankfully, I had a really good relationship
with my mother. Maybe
because we had been through so much together, plus that which she went
through as a wife that I
did not know about at the time.

At any rate.......... sometimes I didn't think life could get much worse.
I would sit on the
floor between my bed and the wall, playing record after record, and
writing a good friend (boy
:). Depression was not talked about back then (50's), and I do not know
if I experienced it or
not. But, Madison, one thing I do remember very well is that I felt so
*different* from all of
my friends. Not only from my health standpoint, but the ways that I saw
my family different
from my friends' families. I knew my dad drank (we didn't *say* alcoholic
at the time), and I
knew my friends couldn't just pop into my house like we did at theirs
(because of my dad's
drinking). I had really good friends, though, and I think I was lucky to
be living in
small-town-USA in the 50's, because we could go and do just most anything
we wanted to do. Our
parents not only trusted us, but they trusted the time in which we lived,
which was much simpler
than it is today, and which gave us lots of freedom to do the things kids
ought to be able to
do..... have fun in life!!

Madison, what they found wrong with me had to do with my kidneys. Several
years later it was
discovered that I had a congenital abnormality which caused the urine in
my bladder to back up
into my kidneys, not only causing infections, but tissue damage to my
kidneys. Another long
medical story short, I passed this abnormality on to all three of my
children, and one of my
granddaughters also had it. After going through some really rough times,
all of them had to
have this very painful urinary surgery to correct the problem. As a
mother, it was difficult
because I knew *I* was the one they could *thank* for all of this. But,
you know what? After
it was all over, it was the past, and they have all been fine ever since.
The past really does
take care of itself. It is PAST!! One day, these days are going to be
your PAST, too. A
phrase that has helped me a lot is "This, too, shall pass." It really is
true.

I just wanted you to know that I understand so much of what you are
feeling these days. There
are still more things, but this is enough for now. *fbg* How old are
you? I have a sixteen
year old granddaughter who has been through some rough times with some
serious emotional/mental
problems. She has Reactive Attachment Disorder. It, too, is an illness
that causes her to be
different. We have worked and worked, and she is doing pretty good these
days.

Hang in there and write me if you would like. My email address is below.
Just close in the
spaces.

Great big cyber Hugs,
Billie

--

A Happy Pumper in Arkansas!
bh-wages @ swbell.net
Pumping with MiniMed Paradigm 715, 2/06 Humalog. Symlin, 20u


"Madison" <madison_satonospam@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ZOCdnaidRrmHYc7ZnZ2dnUVZ_tydnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
:I went to the hospital for some tests Wednesday, I had to stay overnight
: because they wanted me on a special diet for 24 hours before some tests.
:
: There was signs of healing in both sections of my intestine that were
: tested. I am so happy that maybe I will recover and be able to live a
near
: normal life. Of course, I must remain on a strict gluten free diet
forever.
:
: There was some bad news, I am anemic and they gave me vitamin
injections. I
: have to eat more meat and some vegetables, all prepared at home with
gluten
: free ingredients. The only spice I can use is salt. I had been eating
almost
: nothing but rice because it made me feel better.
:
: I have been so much trouble and expense to my parents that they must
wish I
: was never born and sometimes I wish that too.
:
: Madison
: Type 1, Celiac

After reading your story, I am ashamed of the way I have been whining and
complaining. I had 14 years of almost perfect health and should be thankful
for it.

I am a little better, I went to the mall with my Mom for the first time in
almost 3 months. I did not eat anything of course, I did sit in the food
court and had a glass of diet 7-up. I saw one of my school girl frinds. She
is also diabetic, she said the other diabetics in our group were doing fine
and they all wanted to come and visit me but did not know if they could. I
told them to call first and I would love to have them.

I printed your post, I'll keep it to read when I start feeling sorry for
myself again. I pray you and your family have a happy life.

Thanks everyone for your letters of encourgment. I will try to keep my posts
positive from now on. I am sorry if I upset anyone with my whining. If I do
not have anything good to say I will keep quit.

Madison


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